Drank my way through every cancelled game during the lockout. Now I'm 'Drunk on NBA'

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Who 'Hates' Fans More?

This may come as a shock to some, but David Stern and the owners don’t care about you. Furthermore, the NBA players don’t care about you. Actually, the NBA as a whole does not care about you. If this is a revelation then you’ve been a truly naive fan of the NBA. The season is all but cancelled after the owners continued to strong-arm the players, and the players showed ill-timed resiliency. “I guess this shows that David Stern/Owners/Players (take your pick) really don’t care about the fans.” has been the refrain heard 'round the sportsworld. Of course they don’t. Not in the true empathetic sense of 'caring', where the fans feelings directly affect their own. Fans seem to have misinterpreted their relationship with the NBA feeling they are owed a season. More than ever fans are reporting a disconnect from these rich businessmen and athletes. "Occupy ____” comparisons have been made ag nosium: another example of how the downtrodden 99% are being mistreated by the elitist 1%. Cries are heard all over the internets how SternCo and the NBAPA are basking in the fans’ grief, "if they cared about the fans then they would just play." David Stern does not sit at home atop a throne of skulls laughing maniacally about the loss of the season. LeBron James isn’t reinvesting his Sheets profits in a militia group plotting to burn down the city of Cleveland. The owners* and players all want to see the fans happy, only truly sadistic individuals gather pleasure from the pain of others (*exception see: Michael Jeffrey Jordan). When given a choice between a) millions of dollars extra, and job security (goin’ for self), or b) fans being able to enjoy basketball games (Mahatma Gandhi), they, the owners and players, chose a) goin' for self. We as fans should not begrudge them. Feel free to gripe, and even place blame, but to act wounded as if this were a personal affront is asinine.

Let's apply a similar fan response to a theoretic Holllywood dispute. What if Daniel Radcliffe walked away from the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise before the final installment because the movie production company low-balled him on their offer, and as a result the movie was never released? Would you in turn announce “that proves it, Daniel Radcliffe doesn’t care about me, or my little brother, in fact, he probably hates my grandmother too!”? Radcliffe’s adoration for his fans is separate from any contract negotiations. He wants his fans to be happy, but he doesn't 'owe' them anything. If prices to the latest 'Harry Potter' flick sky-rocketed to $1000 a ticket do you 'owe' it to him to still go? Here's an every day example, let’s say you have a mechanic, Geoff (we can presuppose it’s a man), who you’ve been going to for years. He’s a trustworthy guy, does the job timely and fairly cheap, also you just find him to be all-around amiable. Now let’s suppose, that in these fiscally restrictive times business has slowed down and Geoff raises his rates by 30%. You tell him if he can’t work on your car at the same rate as before then you’re taking your business elsewhere. To which he declines and begins work on another customer's car. Now you're upset because finding a good mechanic is hard, and your car needs work. Does this mean Geoff doesn’t care about the emotional state he’s left you in, and the possible decline of your fine automobile? Geoff is still the same trustworthy guy he’s just trying to run a more profitable business. Talented Daniel, and amiable Geoff want their fans/customers to be happy, but are not willing to trade their personal wealth and happiness for others to be slightly more content. Again, we should not begrudge them.

People are dishonest with themselves and have a terribly difficult time turning an objective eye on their own behavior. Often times believing that if confronted with another person’s dilemma that they, as a superior over-all person, would act differently and more just. You can often hear proclamations such as "If I won the lottery I'd give half to charity", sure, if by "charity" you mean strippers and escorts. SternCo and the players are not so different from you and I; in the end we all want everyone to be happy, as long as it doesn't interfere with any of our plans.